Gucci launches 'zero-deforestation' handbag

Green Gucci handbags. Courtesy of Gucci Gucci has rolled out a collection of 'zero-deforestation' handbags. Each handbag comes with a "passport" that provides the history of the product's supply chain going back to the ranch that produced the leather. The line emerged out of concerns that leather in the fashion industry is contributing to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, where roughly two-thirds of forest destruction is for cattle production. A 2009 Greenpeace campaign targeting the fashion industry and shoemakers led cattle producers to agree to introduce supply chain tracking and other safeguards to phase out deforestation. Accordingly, the new line uses only leather sourced from ranches that have been certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Only organic cotton is used in the handbags. "This is a breakthrough moment for sustainable style," says Livia Firth, the fashi...